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terri24601 's review for:
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day
by Jake Knapp
Adding to my favorites shelf because this book has had a profound impact on my life in just the short time it took to listen to it. I ended up buying the e-book so I would have the text available to look back on easily, but I loved listening to the authors read their work.
As fate had it, I had just started utilizing one of Microsoft Outlook's tools which blocks off time for focus on my work calendar. I have, then, a block of time each work day uninterrupted by meetings. Until listening to this book, though, I was not getting the most out of this block of time, often filling it with answering e-mail, doing small tasks, or, honestly, getting distracted. The idea of having a highlight each day supercharged these focus blocks, giving them real purpose.
I immediately started using the "design your day" tactic to lay out each day in detail, lessening the number of times I read and dealt with e-mails and allowing myself to focus on my priorities, including preparing for calls, following up on asks, and researching not only for specific projects but also for knowledge building. I removed infinity pool apps and even e-mail access from my phone so that I was not tempted by them anymore. I turned my to do list into a burner list, loving the idea of the kitchen sink so much that now I keep a "my kitchen sink" and "their kitchen sink" list so that I don't lose track of projects no matter whose court they are in. (You'll have to read the book--or ask me--to find out what that is about.)
All in all, after one week of trying some of the techniques, I felt more productive, sane, and happy than I have in my work life in a long while. I am better prepared for meetings, have time for learning, and am still able to be appropriately responsive to requests.
What is truly great about this book is that:
1) It gives a framework (Highlight, Laser, Energy, Reflect) that is easy to understand and implement.
2) It provides techniques to pick and choose from, recognizing that people are all different and things are never one size fits all. (For instance, there are techniques for morning people vs. night people.) You can try what you like and ignore the rest. Some may be only used for a brief time, some may already be part of your habits. All are encouraged to be intentionally reflected upon, allowing you to keep only what works and throw out what doesn't.
3) It gives you permission to choose, including choosing not to get sucked in by addictive distractions and other people's priorities.
As fate had it, I had just started utilizing one of Microsoft Outlook's tools which blocks off time for focus on my work calendar. I have, then, a block of time each work day uninterrupted by meetings. Until listening to this book, though, I was not getting the most out of this block of time, often filling it with answering e-mail, doing small tasks, or, honestly, getting distracted. The idea of having a highlight each day supercharged these focus blocks, giving them real purpose.
I immediately started using the "design your day" tactic to lay out each day in detail, lessening the number of times I read and dealt with e-mails and allowing myself to focus on my priorities, including preparing for calls, following up on asks, and researching not only for specific projects but also for knowledge building. I removed infinity pool apps and even e-mail access from my phone so that I was not tempted by them anymore. I turned my to do list into a burner list, loving the idea of the kitchen sink so much that now I keep a "my kitchen sink" and "their kitchen sink" list so that I don't lose track of projects no matter whose court they are in. (You'll have to read the book--or ask me--to find out what that is about.)
All in all, after one week of trying some of the techniques, I felt more productive, sane, and happy than I have in my work life in a long while. I am better prepared for meetings, have time for learning, and am still able to be appropriately responsive to requests.
What is truly great about this book is that:
1) It gives a framework (Highlight, Laser, Energy, Reflect) that is easy to understand and implement.
2) It provides techniques to pick and choose from, recognizing that people are all different and things are never one size fits all. (For instance, there are techniques for morning people vs. night people.) You can try what you like and ignore the rest. Some may be only used for a brief time, some may already be part of your habits. All are encouraged to be intentionally reflected upon, allowing you to keep only what works and throw out what doesn't.
3) It gives you permission to choose, including choosing not to get sucked in by addictive distractions and other people's priorities.